KIRKUK/BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Iraq signed a
memorandum of understanding with BP on Thursday to boost
production capacity at its northern Kirkuk oilfields, the
country's oil ministry said in a statement

The oilfields were taken back under Baghdad's control last
October after Iraqi government forces dislodged Kurdish fighters
from the area.

Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi and BP's president for the
Middle East region, Michael Townshend, attended the signing
ceremony at the Kirkuk office of the Iraqi state-run North Oil
Company, which operates the fields, the ministry said.

The agreement provides for BP to boost Kirkuk's output
capacity to 750,000 barrels per day (bpd), more than twice
existing capacity, the statement added, citing Townshend.

"The company will carry out seismic survey operations and
and studies to develop the fields," the ministry statement
quoted the BP executive as saying.

Luaibi initiated the talks with BP in October, only days
after the Kurdish fighters were driven from the area.

Oil exports from the field, transported by pipeline to
Turkey, halted after the Iraqi military operation, which was
conducted in retaliation against an independence referendum held
on Sept. 25 by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG).

Iraq plans to start trucking crude from Kirkuk to Iran at
the end of the month.

BP had agreed in 2013 to help Baghdad to halt a huge decline
in output from Kirkuk. The KRG took control of the Kirkuk region
in 2014, when the Iraqi army collapsed in the face of Islamic
State's sweeping advance in northern and western Iraq.

The Kurdish move prevented the fields from falling into the
hands of the militants.

Kirkuk is one of the biggest and oldest oilfields in the
Middle East, estimated to contain about 9 billion barrels of
recoverable oil, according to BP.

BP has provided technical assistance in the past to the
North Oil to aid the redevelopment of the Kirkuk field.

Luaibi said on Saturday that Iraq oil output capacity is
nearing 5 million bpd. However, it is currently producing 4.4
million bpd in compliance with an agreement between oil
exporters to support crude prices.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Gareth Jones and David
Goodman)